A New Path
Chapter 14 : Confrontations
Synopsis : After a hard night, Naruto wakes up to find that Gaara stayed with him all night, as now he must prepare for the day to come, since he'll have to confront his former teammates, friends, senseis and most of all, Uchiha Sasuke.
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Pairings : Main pairing will be Gaara x Naruto.
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Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto but wish I did. Because if I did, I'd be rich and happier.
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WARNING : Contains shonen-ai, in other words boy loves boy, don't like then don't read.
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EXTRA INFORMATION :
- This takes place after the Chuunin exam, although, Sasuke never went to join Orochimaru.
- Also, the fight between Sasuke and Naruto on the Hospital roof did occur.
- Important to have read up to Volume 20 of the manga Naruto
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JUTSU LIST
None in this chapter.
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JAPANESE WORDS
- baka = idiot -
- dobe = dead last -
- naruhodo = I see -
- Chikushou = damn / dammit -
- naze = why -
- hai = yes / yeah -
- Arigatou = Thank You -
- Gomen = Sorry -
- Urousai = Shut up -
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Recap
Gaara's House
---- Gaara's Bedroom ----
Naruto was sound asleep in Gaara's bed on the floor, while the sand-nin seemed to be asleep as well since his eyes were closed and his arms crossed. Naruto slowly woke up as he turned to his right side to come face to face with Gaara's legs.
"Gaara ..." Naruto whispered as he lifted his head slightly to notice the sand-nin was sleeping.
Naruto couldn't help but smile a little by the sight of Gaara's face, since the boy seemed at peace and relaxed. Even under the sheets, Naruto felt somewhat cold, until the memory of only a few hours ago crossed his mind once more. The moment Gaara kissed him. Willingly.
"I wonder what's that feeling I got ..." Naruto asked himself as he sat up on the bed.
Naruto partly pulled off the sheets form his body as he crawled closer to the sand-nin when he was only a few centimeters away from his face. Naruto then carefully placed a hand to gently caress the boy's cheek and leaned forward, and gave a soft and light kiss on Gaara's lips.
"Still warm ..." Naruto thought as he pulled away from the sand-nin.
Although after a little kiss, Gaara remained asleep, as Naruto decided that perhaps the boy would freeze if he wasn't covered, and so Narutogot closer again, and gently wrapped a blanket to cover Gaara's body, from his chest all the way down to his feet.
"Goodnight." Naruto whispered as he repositioned himself to sleep closer to the sand-nin and stay warm.
Naruto gently laid his head to rest on Gaara's lap as he pulled his own blanket over him to keep his body heat with him and closed his eyes once more, to fall asleep, feeling that he wasn't alone anymore.
Minutes later, Naruto was finally back to his sleep, as Gaara slowly opened his eyes, to reveal his pale green eyes, while he brought two fingers to his lips where moments ago, Naruto kissed him, truly believing he was asleep.
For the second time that night, Gaara smiled.
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Konoha Village
---- Tsunade's Office ----
Kurenai and Asuma's team finally came back within Konoha after an hour of leaping through trees and running on the ground. Their first stop was of course Tsunade's office, as the Hokage had nearly fallen asleep on her desk due to all the paperwork she still had to do.
"Tsunade-sama." Kurenai spoke her name as her and the rest of the team stepped within the office.
"Did you find him?" Tsunade immediately asked as she jumped out of her chair, hands against the desk.
"Kakashi and the others did, but there's a slight problem." Kurenai replied, while the genins simply stood behind the group as though they were bored.
"What kind?" Tsunade demanded an answer.
"Kakashi and the rest have located Naruto with the help of the sand-nins, but they can't return home yet due to the sand storm that will soon start." Kurenai explained, while Asuma simply continued to smoke and observed the Hokage's reactions.
"But he is within their custody?" Tsunade wanted to confirm.
"Hai. And while they are there along with Jiraiya-sama, they'll have a few words with Kazekage about their recent betrayal towards the Leaf." Asuma specified as he stomped his cigarette on the floor, which earned him a glare from the Hokage.
"The sand storm has it begun yet?" Tsunade asked, while she ignored Asuma's rude action form moments ago.
"The wind started to pick up so it shouldn't take long before the real storms starts." Tenten pointed out as she seemed bored.
"How much time?" Tsunade asked, very interested in the subject.
"Half an hour at most." Tenten replied while Kurenai and Asuma eyed their Hokage.
"Then it would be pointless to send you within the Village as well." Tsunade stated as she walked around her desk.
"Hai. I suggest we all get some rest and think about what we could do once our head is clear." Kurenai proposed, aware that they all worried of not being able to do anything more than wait.
"Very well. For now, you genins are off duty until this matter is cleared, as for you two, I want you in my office tomorrow morning for a briefing of another situation." Tsunade ordered them.
"Other situation?" Asuma raised an eyebrow.
"You'll be briefed tomorrow. Now go." Tsunade demanded as she waved them to get out of her office.
Kurenai and Asuma exchanged worried looks as the genins simply let out tired sighs and quickly left the room to go to their respective homes and get the sleep they need.
"Tsunade-sama ... They'll bring him back ..." Kurenai commented before she left, soon followed by Asuma as well.
Tsunade sat down on the edge of her desk and sighed. She couldn't help but feel a bit better over what Kurenai told her but something else told her to worry about the situation.
"As much as I want to believe you, something tells me things won't be that easy ..." Tsunade let out before she closed the lights and left her office to get some sleep or at least try.
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Sand Village
---- Gaara's house, In His Room ----
Gaara and Naruto hadn't moved at all from their position, as the blond clung onto the sand-nin's pants. Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he noticed how warm he felt compared to all the morning he woke up to only feel the cold air in the room. It's then that Naruto noticed that the warmth came form Gaara, as well as the sand-nin had an arm wrapped possessively behind his neck.
"Gaara...?" Naruto softly spoke out as he raised his head to meet those pale green eyes.
"Did I wake you?" Gaara asked as he locked eyes with the kitsune.
"Iie ..." Naruto let out as he laid his head back on the boy's lap and closed his eyes. "It's been a long time since I actually had a good night sleep."
"I wouldn't know." Gaara let out.
Naruto quickly opened his eyes, while he raised his head and upper body off the bed, his hands that supported his weight, as the kitsune looked a bit sadly at his new found companion.
"Because of Shukaku you can't sleep right?" Naruto asked.
"Hai." Gaara replied as he removed his arm from Naruto's neck.
Naruto wanted to talk a bit more, but unfortunately, his stomach had other plans in mind. His stomach growled loud enough as Gaara raised an eyebrow and stared at the stomach, while Naruto simply sat back in bed, rubbed the back of his head, and grinned.
"Hungry?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah ... I didn't eat anything since yesterday ..." Naruto trailed off as felt a bit uneasy under Gaara's intense stares.
Noticing that his kitsune felt somewhat uncomfortable, Gaara raised himself to his feet, and grabbed Naruto by the wrist, forcing him to stand up and follow him where ever the sand-nin went.
"H...hey!" Naruto objected as he felt somewhat, dominated by Gaara, but yet, it didn't feel all that bad. He only wondered why suddenly the sand-nin grabbed him and pulled him out of bed for no reason. "Gaara! Where are you bringing me!?" The boy demanded and answer as he pulled his wrist hard enough to escape the tight grip the sand-nin had on him.
Naruto tumbled back, as he landed a bit hard on his butt, while Gaara observed him, curious of his behavior. After all, most people were scared of him and never dared to resist him, but only this boy, Naruto, reacted so much differently then all the others. Because this one, understood him better than anyone else. Thus, Gaara leaned forward and held out a hand to Naruto.
"Gomen. I wanted to bring you to the kitchen so you could eat." Gaara explained.
"Oh ..." Naruto let out, surprised of how Gaara can be somewhat nice when the two are alone, unlike when the others, or even his siblings are present.
Naruto smiled as he grabbed Gaara's hand, and the sand-nin pulled him off the floor but used a little more strength then needed. Naruto quickly got off the floor but lost his footing and fell forward, until Gaara quickly grabbed him by the shoulders, assuring that this one wouldn't fall back on the floor and wound himself.
The blond looked up as he was about to thank the sand-nin, when he noticed how close they were. Their faces, only a few inches away from each other, as his deep blues eyes looked up and gazed into those pale green ones.
"The only thing I can think of is feeling those lips again ... Why?" Naruto asked himself, since he never really knew what love really felt like.
"Uzumaki ..." Gaara whispered his name.
"Yeah?" Naruto let out, his eyes still focused on the sand-nin's lips.
"Why did you kiss me last night?" Gaara asked, curious to know what motivated the blond to do something of the sort.
"You ... You were awake!?" Naruto yelled out as he took a step back.
"As I said earlier, I don't sleep, but I sometimes close my eyes to think." Gaara reminded the boy.
"Oh ... I'm sorry ... I thought you were sleeping and ... I don't know ... Just felt like it ..." Naruto trailed off as he didn't dare to look into Gaara's eyes.
"Felt like it..?" Gaara repeated as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah ..." The boy confirmed.
Gaara took a few steps forward, as Naruto remained in his position, not knowing what he should actually do. The sand-nin rose his hand and grabbed Naruto's chin and leaned forward, as his lips met those of the other boy. Naruto's eyes widened by the fact that Gaara was kissing him. Again!
After a few seconds, Gaara pulled away and turned his back on a stunned Naruto. He walked out of the room, but stopped once he felt the other boy's body move, ready to ask the question. The sand-nin turned his head slightly, o have a small view of the kitsune, waiting for the question.
"Why did you just kiss me?" Naruto asked, completely confused of how Gaara could act one moment and totally change another.
"I felt like it ..." Gaara let out as he walked out of the room, although, Naruto was unaware, that a small smile crept on the boy's lips as he left.
Within seconds, Naruto simply ran out of the room to join Gaara, as he debated within himself, how he should react, but for now, his stomach was more important. He could talk things out with the sand-nin when they would be alone after all.
---- Neji and Sasuke's Room ----
Both boys stayed all night looking out the window at the moon until the sand storm kicked in. They remained both silent for most of the time, lost within their own thoughts and worries for their little blond friend, until Neji decided to stand up and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked as he watched his roommate's back.
"It's pointless to stay here. So I decided to grab something to eat before I go train myself. Care to join?" Neji asked, well aware how the Uchiha always liked to train, after all, Sasuke was very similar to him in some ways.
"Hn. Having a different sparring partner could improve my skills even more. Especially one with a bloodlimit as good as the Sharingan." Sasuke spoke out as he got out of his chair and slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Uchiha. You should have learned by now that having the Byakugan or Sharingan is an addition to your strength, but it does not make you more powerful than one that has none." Hyuga reminded the boy who stood behind him, as he closed his eyes for a short moment.
"You're referring to Naruto." Sasuke coldly said as he observed Hyuga's movements and reactions.
"Hai. Although I am not his teammate, it only took one fight with him, to see that both children and adults, underestimate his true strength and potential into becoming a great ninja. Surely underneath that thick head of yours, you noticed this..." Neji finished as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
"Hn. But to me, he's still a dobe." Sasuke let out as he exited the room before Neji.
As Sasuke disappeared down the stairs, Neji couldn't help but smile lightly, as he noticed that deep down, Sasuke knew that his words spoke the truth. Neji walked outside the room as he closed the door and looked back at where they learned Naruto and Gaara slept for the night.
"Although a tragedy occurred in your clan Uchiha, it seems that you grew fond of Naruto, since I suppose, he's the only one that didn't treat or compare you to your brother, Itachi ..." Neji thought before he decided to leave the hall and go down in the kitchen.
---- Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino's Room ----
All three boys managed to get only a few hours of sleep, as they each began to wake up. Shikamaru lazily laid down on his back as he stared at the ceiling and seemed a bit depressed, while Kiba and Akamaru rubbed their eyes to clear their eyesight, and Shino, was already standing up near the window, as the bug user observed his two teammates.
"Today is going to be so troublesome ..." Shikamaru stated as he sat up in his bed and sighed.
"Everything's always too troublesome for you! If you always think like this why the hell did you come here to begin with!?" Kiba shouted as he jumped out of his bed and clenched his fists.
"Perhaps because we were ordered to." Shino stated with his calm voice.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Kiba yelled out once more.
"Calm down Kiba. I'm here because I respect Naruto and he's my friend. What's more troublesome is you." Shikamaru calmly spoke out as he got out of his bed and exchanged looks with the dog-nin.
"I propose we eat." Shino said out of the blue as he stared at the bedroom door.
"Huh? Are you going crazy?" Kiba asked as he raised an eyebrow and stared at his teammate.
The room was filled with silence as Shikamaru analyzed the situation and then understood the meaning of Shino's words.
"I agree. We have a busy day ahead of us." Shikamaru agreed as Kiba quickly turned his gaze to the lazy-nin in disbelief.
"What the hell!?" Kiba shouted, not understanding anything.
"As one would say, it is too troublesome to explain to someone like you." Shino cleared for him before he opened the door and stepped out of the room.
"Why that ..." Kiba began to curse when Akamaru sat down on his feet, while Shikamaru shook his head and placed a hand on his forehead, as though he had a headache.
"Kiba, what Shino was trying to say was that Naruto isn't in his room anymore." Shikamaru cleared for him as the dog-nin seemed to understand.
"Oh ... Then why the hell didn't he simply say so!?" Kiba shouted to the lazy- nin with anger.
"Those are the basics of shinobi's rules, one must learn to read, listen and look underneath the underneath." Shikamaru reminded the basic rules that were taught to them at the Academy.
"Whatever! I'm going to eat." Kiba said as he grabbed Akamaru from the floor and quickly walked out of the bedroom.
Shikamaru sighed again before he decided to join his teammates downstairs as well.
---- Sakura's Room ----
Sakura laid in her warm bed as she slowly opened her eyes and pushed aside the few pink strands of hair out of her eyes and found the strength to sit up in bed. She then rubbed her eyes as to clear up her vision as she took a look outside to notice the time.
"I guess the sand storm is still here ..." Sakura told herself as she slipped out of bed and went to the nearest mirror to rearrange her appearance.
She carefully brushed her short hair, as she attached her Leaf headband around her upper forehead so that her pink hair wouldn't block her vision or anything. After a few minutes of preparing to be the most stunning female, she smiled at the mirror as she turned towards the door with one though in mind, and completely forgetting about Naruto's current situation.
"I hope Sasuke-kun will compliment me today ..." Sakura let out softly and giggled. "HELL YEAH! I'm so beautiful that he's sure to go out with me!" Inner Sakura shouted as she waved her fists around.
With those thoughts in mind, Sakura left her room and decided to go visit her beloved crush Sasuke in his own bedroom.
---- Kakashi, Gai and Jiraiya's Room ----
Out of all three, Kakashi and Jiraiya stayed up all night while Gai decided to get the rest they needed, although in the back of his mind he did worry about his eternal rival's student.
When Gai woke up, he noticed how Kakashi was lost within his own thoughts, as the Jounin sat in a chair and leaned against the wall, while the legendary sennin focused on some scrolls that were laid down opened on his bed.
"Have any of you gotten any sleep?" Gai spoke out as he sat down in his bed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Iie." Jiraiya replied as he rubbed his temple with his fingers.
"Kakashi?" Gai turned his attention towards his rival.
"Just thinking." Kakashi replied with a bit of sadness.
"Still worried about him aren't you?" Gai asked, but already knew the answer.
"He's my student Gai ... I should have seen this coming ..." Kakashi blamed himself for his student's departure.
"Blaming yourself won't help us or even him right now. We need to know the complete truth and why he just left al of a sudden." Gai reminded his rival their original goal.
"Kakashi, this was to be expected. After all, we all knew too well that the Villagers still treated him as though he was the Kyubi himself, and the fact that Itachi appeared in the picture and wanted Naruto instead of Sasuke placed more strain on his rivalry between both boys." Jiraiya informed them as he began to close the scrolls.
"He's right. I admire the boy for that too." Gai started as this earned him the attention of both shinobis.
"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, curious to what his rival could possibly say.
"If Naruto didn't have such determination and a strong will, I doubt he would have been able to endure such a harsh life since he was a child. The fact that he continued to live and set out to realize his dreams, along with his will to never give up, it's amazing he lasted for so long ... I'm more surprised of how long he lasted, before he broke down and shut us out." Gai explained carefully as Kakashi and Jiraiya knew all too well that what Gai said was nothing but the truth.
"The question we should ask ourselves now, is if we can still save him..." Jiraiya let out as he finally spoke out the question everyone didn't dare to say or ask out loud.
---- Kitchen ----
Naruto was the first that entered the kitchen room as Gaara was only seconds behind his new object of his affection. But much to his disappointment, Gaara noticed that the kitsune had placed a false smile on his face.
"Naruto, don't hide yourself when I'm here." Gaara ordered him as he stared at the blond.
"Gomen ... It's just how I deal with daily things..." Naruto trailed off as he stared at the floor.
"It's ok ..." gaara trailed off as he noticed he made his kitsune uncomfortable.
Knock Knock
"Gaara, are you here?" A female voice spoke out on the other side of the door.
Naruto and Gaara turned their attention towards the door as it slowly opened to reveal two distinct forms. Temari stepped in as Kankuro soon followed behind her, while he made sure that the door was closed behind him.
"Ohayo." Naruto greeted them with a weak smile.
"Ah ... You're up early ..." Kankuro let out, a bit surprised to see the blond there.
"Kankuro." Temari murmured his name as she gave him an elbowounch on his side. "Did you sleep well Naruto?" Temari asked with a smile.
"Hai." Naruto replied, a bit happy that she actually showed her concern about how he slept last night.
"Naruto, would you mind if we took Gaara for a few minutes?" Temari asked while Kankuro sweat dropped.
"Oh ... Sure, I'm just going to make something to eat before I go train ... Want anything while I'm in it?" Naruto asked, disappointed that Gaara had to be taken away form him for a few minutes, after all, he would have broken down a long time ago if it wasn't for the presence of the sand-nin.
"Could you make me a small salad?" Temari asked, a bit worried of the boy's reaction.
"Sure. I'll have it ready for when you come back." Naruto said as he turned his attention towards Gaara and Kankuro. "How about you two?" He asked.
"I already ate ..." Kankuro answered.
"I don't eat in the mornings." Gaara replied.
With that said, Naruto turned his back on the small trio, as he searched for a bowl and was ready to prepare Temari's salad. Kankuro wanted to get out of the kitchen since he was still not use to Naruto's presence within their household. The trio exited the kitchen to discuss something that concerned their little family, while Naruto prepared Temari's salad.
"I kinda feel empty when he's not around ..." Naruto thought as he reached within the refrigerator and got some salad, cucumbers and carrots out of it.
---- An Empty Room ----
Temari led the way inside the empty room, as Gaara was the second to enter it and last of all, Kankuro, who made sure to close the door behind them, and made sure that no Leaf shinobis were around.
"Get to the point." Gaara demanded them, as he had a very short temper, more than usual when he wasn't around the former Leaf genin.
"I ... I mean we kinda noticed that having Naruto around is a good thing." Temari started, not wanting to anger her little brother or anything.
"You're saying that he calms both me and Shukaku." Gaara spoke the words his big sister didn't dare to, and much to both her and Kankuro's surprise.
"Look Gaara ... We were thinking that maybe it would be good to keep the brat here ..." Kankuro specified, his voice trembled a little.
"You stayed up all night to think of a way so we could keep Naruto." Gaara kinda asked but knew the answer as Temari and Kankuro were taken by surprise.
"Never mind ... It was a bad idea anyway ..." Kankuro let out as he felt as though he had been defeated.
"I want to hear it." Gaara demanded to know of this, which caught both off guard.
"Maybe father could do something to keep him here." Temari stated, but a the mention of his father, Gaara glared at his younger sister.
"I don't want that man's help." Gaara coldly stated as Kankuro swallowed hard, aware that his younger brother's anger towards their father.
"Or maybe not ..." Temari bluntly said as she waved her hands around defensively.
"I thought you had a better plan. After all you are my older sister and older brother." Gaara stated much to their surprise. After all Gaara very rarely addressed them as his siblings.
"We know for a fact that the Leaf shinobis labeled Naruto as a missing-nin, so I'm surprised they didn't order his assassination. But aside of that, Konoha will not leave without him." Temari started with a serious tone, while Gaara carefully listened to her every word.
"By the way things turned out last night, I take it that the brat doesn't want to go back home, for reasons only you know." Kankuro continued as his attention remained on the other side of the door.
"That boy would rather be killed then to go back to his former Village." Gaara confirmed as he crossed his arms.
"With that known, we came up with two options." Kankuro started as he looked over to his sister.
"The first one is for Naruto to leave our Village. With you being his full time guard, he would have a head start if he were to escape. At least he would have a fighting chance to escape his Village and perhaps not be caught." Temari explained the first option, but Gaara showed that he already didn't like that option.
"What about Option number 2?" Gaara asked as he stared at his sister.
Temari and Kankuro exchanged a bit worried looks before they revealed in only whispers what option number two was.
---- Kitchen ----
Naruto finally finished Temari's salad as he placed it on the counter with a cover over it, until the young female would come back with her two brothers.
"This isn't like me to prepare breakfast for someone I barely know ..." Naruto told himself as he stared at the salad bowl.
Naruto didn't feel like eating much anymore so he decided to simply drink a glass of fresh milk while he waited for Gaara to return. He took out a glass and filled it with milk and then made his way to the opposite door at the end of the room to take a seat, when the door opened and revealed 2 shinobis.
"Like I needed this ..." Naruto mentally told himself and sighed.
The first one that entered the kitchen was Sasuke, soon followed by Neji. Within seconds, Naruto was now face to face with his former rival, and immediately both looked at each other with cold eyes, while Neji observed, for now.
"Dobe ..." Sasuke let out, a bit surprised by the cold stares.
Naruto remained silent although his cold eyes could easily be felt by the other two boys. Naruto placed his glass of milk on the table and prepared to walk out of there, by using the same door which the boys came in with, but Sasuke stood before him, blocking his way.
"Out of my way ... Uchiha." Naruto coldly demanded and locked eyes with his former rival.
"Not until you and me talk." Sasuke clearly stated and was ready to back up his words if needed.
"Talk about what? The fact I left Konoha or the fact that I dared to tell you loud enough about this thing going on between you and Itachi? There's so many topics, all you gotta do is pick one." Naruto hissed with anger but kept his cool.
Sasuke was a bit shocked by Naruto's cold behavior, while Neji observed, but only wanted to interfere. Sasuke clenched his fists, as though he was ready to fight Naruto, but what held him back, was the presence of Neji, and his inner self.
----The Empty Room ----
For nearly five minutes, the room remained silent as Kankuro and Temari awaited for their little brother's answer, but his action, surprised them. Gaara simply closed his eyes for a short moment as he walked towards his older brother, while he uncrossed his arms.
"Gaara?" Temari spoke his name with worry as she took a step towards him.
"You both truly deserve to be called my older brother and sister, but this is a decision that Naruto alone can make." Gaara stated.
"What do you want us to do then?" Kankuro asked.
"Nothing." Gaara answered with his neutral tone.
"But ..." Temari objected but stopped once her eyes met those pale and dangerous eyes.
"The last thing we need are the Leaf suspecting something. As for the options, I will speak to Naruto privately, after the Leaf shinobis meet Kazekage. You'll be informed what course of action we will take." Gaara informed them with a menacing tone.
Temari and Kankuro were a bit frightened, as Gaara made his way towards the door and Kankuro. The puppet master lost no time to move out of his little brother's way, as he joined his sister's side. Gaara opened the door, his back turned to his siblings, but on his way out, he stopped.
"Arigatou." Gaara murmured loud enough for his siblings to hear.
Gaara left the room to return to the kitchen, as Temari and Kankuro were shocked for the third time that morning to how their little brother changed a little each time he encountered Naruto.
"Somehow, I hope Naruto picks option number 2 ..." Temari let out as Kankuro placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are aware that if that happens, it will mean more trouble for all of us right?" Kankuro reminded his sister.
"Hai ... But when's the last time you saw Gaara smile or show any emotion at all?" Temari spoke out as she stared at the opened door.
"Not since father ignored him and Yashamaru's death ..." Kankuro let out.
---- Kitchen ----
After a few minutes of silence, Naruto decided it would be better for all if he simply left the room, after all, he didn't feel like fighting any of them right now, since last night's incident and discovery. And so for the second time, Naruto took a few steps forward, and tried to get pass Sasuke, but failed once more, as the Uchiha simply remained in the kitsune's way.
"I won't ask again." Naruto stated with cold blue eyes.
"Then make me." Sasuke told him and glared back.
"Answer me this Sasuke. That night, you told me to stay out of your business about you wanting to kill Itachi. So stay the hell out of mine, unless you want me to remind you of certain events concerning your older brother." Naruto evilly grinned, which angered his former rival.
The fact Naruto was actually smiling when he spoke out so freely about Itachi hit a nerve in Sasuke and thus, his Sharingan flared up. Sasuke quickly pushed Naruto against the nearest wall, as a loud thump was heard from the impact.
Neji was a bit surprised by Sasuke's sudden reactions, as he noticed how Naruto's head was lowered towards the ground, although the boy was still standing up. Sasuke quickly made his way towards his rival as he grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the wall, ready to hit the blond shinobi, when he got a glimpse of those blue empty eyes.
"Sasuke don't." Neji spoke loud enough as he prepared to interfere when he noticed they weren't alone in the kitchen anymore.
"This is going to be more troublesome than I thought ..." Shikamaru mumbled, as Shino and Kiba stood behind him at the other end of the room.
"Sasuke what do you think you're doing?" Kakashi's voice came from behind the Hyuga and Uchiha.
At where they stepped in, Gai, Kakashi and Jiraiya had stepped within the room, as they stood only a few meters away from the Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke remained in his fighting stance, his fist closed, ready to punch if necessary, while Naruto showed no sign of resistance or even tried to defend himself, instead he kept his eyes on his former rival, but those eyes were simply empty as though he no longer cared about anything.
"I want him to answer!" Sasuke replied with an angry voice.
"If you're going to hit me then just do it." Naruto told him, which earned him everyone's attention.
"Naruto ..." Neji let out, surprised by the sudden words that left the blonde's mouth.
"Well?" Naruto let out again to their surprise.
"Naruto why would you ..." Kakashi began to question until Naruto's eyes shifted to his own.
"It wouldn't be any different." Naruto answered with cold eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked as his small group came closer.
Jiraiya immediately understood what Naruto was speaking of, as he closed his eyes for a short moment before reopening them to look at his student. Jiraiya stepped forward and closer to Sasuke and Naruto, as the others remained behind him.
"Is that why you left Konoha?" Jiraiya asked, as both Jounins started to understand as well.
"Among many reasons." Naruto replied, as he now and only paid attention to the legendary sennin.
---- Outside Sasuke and Neji's Room ----
Sakura stopped in front of her beloved's door, as she rearranged her hair to be perfect and then knocked on the door.
"This is the perfect moment! He's sure to kiss me since I look so cute and irresistible." Sakura let out as she closed her hands and placed them under her chin.
"HELL YEAH! But I'm sure Sasuke's too shy to make a move and in that case! I'LL KISS HIM!" Inner Sakura shouted with joy.
A few minutes passed as she received no answer. She then decided that maybe she should go inside, after all, her beloved Sasuke could still be asleep. She grabbed the doorknob and was about to open the door when she heard that annoying voice of Naruto that came form downstairs.
"Just get your filthy hands off of me Uchiha!" Naruto demanded.
Sakura stopped her action as she retreated while looking down the stairs.
"Damn you Naruto! Talking like that to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura let out as her fist clenched and shook a little.
Now knowing that her all time crush was downstairs, she quickly ran down the stairs to scold Naruto for the way he treated HER Sasuke.
---- Kitchen ----
Jiraiya tried to have a calm conversation with Naruto, but at some point Kakashi and Sasuke started to get into it, which complicated things more than anything else.
"I'm not moving until you tell us the whole story." Sasuke stated as he lowered his fist and grabbed Naruto's collar more.
"Just get your filthy hands off of me Uchiha!" Naruto demanded as he finally fought back.
Naruto fought back as he pushed Sasuke off of him and regained his normal posture, while Sasuke wanted nothing more then to fight back. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi grabbed the boy by the shoulders and held him in place, while Jiraiya tried to talk some sense into his only student.
"Sasuke, don't interfere anymore." Kakashi warned his student, as the Uchiha was a bit angered by his sensei's words.
"Naruto, you should calm down..." Jiraiya tried to reason with the boy, but failed to.
"You bastard! I'd give anything to trade places!" Naruto shouted, while Sasuke wanted nothing more then to retaliate.
"You idiot! My whole clan was whipped out by Itachi and that bastard left me alive because I wasn't even worth killing! Who would possibly want that kind of a life!?" Sasuke shouted as Kakashi did his best to hold his student from fighting with his other one.
"Me." Naruto replied and was serious about it, which took Sasuke by surprise.
"Nani...?" Sasuke let out, still shocked by the honesty in Naruto's response.
"You think my life is better than yours? Guess again. Being ignored by everyone, knowing that all they wish for is your death because of what you are. The cold glares, all those together are just as good as being beaten and punched. As for my parents, I never got to know them and NO ONE ever wanted to tell me who they were or what they did. At least you knew them and had your happy moments with yours before Itachi took them away." Naruto informed them as they all remained silent, from Naruto's speech.
Naruto's heart was beating fast as he let his emotions take the better part of him, while the rest of the genins simply looked at him, partly sad of what they learned, while the Jounins and the sennin had their own personal thoughts.
"His fighting spirit is broken ..." Gai thought as he remembered how Lee felt when he learned he couldn't be a shinobi anymore. That was before Tsunade managed to heal the boy through surgery, giving him a second chance.
"I never knew this affected him so much ..." Kakashi thought as he was angry with himself for not noticing earlier.
"Perhaps keeping everything secret to him wasn't as good as we thought ..." Jiraiya thought, as he noticed how Naruto now leaned against the wall, his head low, to avoid any eye contact. Right now, Naruto was vulnerable once more, because of them.
The room became silent, that was until a certain pink haired girl barged inside the kitchen and charged towards Naruto.
"Naruto. You better not be mistreating Sasuke-kun again." Sakura shouted as she stood only a meter away from the boy.
"If she gets into this it's going to go beyond troublesome ..." Shikamaru thought as he slapped his forehead from the stupidity of the pink haired girl.
"You'll never change ..." Naruto let out as he slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with anger and resentment towards the girl.
With only those words spoken, the intense hatred could be felt within the air, as Kiba gulped, while Akamaru hid in his master's jacket. Shino remained silent, just like Neji, but both paid close attention and would interfere if needed, while Gai could only imagine how his long time rival could feel like right now, after all three were his students.
"Sasuke was right about one thing, you are annoying." Naruto coldly stated.
Sakura took a step back as her own eyes locked with those cold blue eyes, surprised by what her 'idiotic' teammate just told her.
"Naruto!" Kakashi interfered before things would get ugly.
"And you ..." Naruto turned his eyes towards his former sensei. "You, you ignored me and treated me just the same way they all did. Guess watching over the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan was far more important than even giving me a minute of your precious time." Naruto spat out in anger as the Jounin felt the anger all too well, after all, Naruto wasn't half wrong about the words he spoke.
"Naruto. That's enough." Jiraiya told his student.
"Doesn't matter anyway. Even if you bring me back to that damn Village, the only way you'll keep me in it is either by killing me, which shouldn't be too hard considering those stupid people's hate for me, or by finding some way to to keep me in check, which I doubt would be too possible to do since IT wouldn't appreciate it either." Naruto firmly stated as they all noticed how Naruto insisted on the IT word, and none of the genins had any idea what he referred to, except the three adults.
Jiraiya was about to grab Naruto by the arm, when this one simply stepped back to avoid the hand, and then, a small smile was formed on his lips, as well as his eyes focused elsewhere.
"I'd advise you to stay away from him." A neutral voice spoke behind Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino.
All heads turned to see who was the speaker as they found Gaara there, arms crossed, and he looked unpleased to see how they had cornered the one thing he appreciated most in life right now.
"He'll have to answer our questions sooner or later. Jiraiya spoke out as he noticed three hidden figures, who appeared behind Gaara.
"Until you leave MY Village, Uzumaki Naruto is under my surveillance and care. Once you've left, you can do as you please." Gaara reminded them.
"Who the hell are they?" Kiba asked an obvious question.
"Kazekage-sama is ready to meet with Konoha's shinobis. We are here to escort you to him." The leader spoke out for the three adults to understand him.
"We appreciate this, but we still have a few things to discuss with the missing-nin ..." Kakashi began to explain, but his attempt was quickly discarded by the Anbu leader.
"Kazekage-sama is not a man who likes to wait." The leader informed the Jounin and seemed very serious about it.
"As for your missing-nin, it's unlikely that he'll escape with Gaara as his caretaker." The other Anbu explained.
"So if you would please follow us." The third member spoke.
Jiraiya and Kakashi exchanged looks, as Gai placed a comforting hand on his rival's shoulder.
"This is for Konoha's best interests. Gaara of the Sand isn't likely to lie, so we shouldn't worry, besides, Naruto needs his space right now." Gai whispered to his rival.
"Hai ..." Kakashi let out and sighed.
"We're just going to leave like this!?" Sakura shouted from the way her sensei reacted.
"Sakura was it?" Jiraiya asked and she nodded. "I think you've done enough damage for today ..." He informed her.
"But!" Sakura wanted to object, but much to her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder, that hand belonged to Uchiha Sasuke.
"Drop it." Sasuke demanded from her.
Sakura closed her mouth, as she decided it would be best if she obeyed, while Gai took the first steps those all three Anbu members.
"Let's go." He said.
Before joining the Jounin, each genin took one last look at their friend and teammate, as the only ones that remained behind were Jiraiya, Sasuke and Kakashi.
"You should go. Wouldn't want Konoha to be at war again would we?" Naruto spat out a bit angered.
"We'll be back soon. And when I come back, you and me are having a serious talk, alone." Jiraiya informed his only student before he walked towards the Anbu and the rest of their team.
Kakashi spared one last look before he motioned Sasuke to join the others as well as himself. Every Leaf shinobi had now joined the three Anbus, as Gaara stepped aside to join his kitsune, on the other end of the room.
"Take your time to come back." Gaara spoke, as the leader simply nodded, before the group were encircled by wind and sand.
Within seconds, they all disappeared from the kitchen, and left Gaara and Naruto alone. The moment they left, Naruto's true emotions surfaced as he leaned against the wall and let his body slowly slide down the wall until he reached the floor.
"I shouldn't have left you." Gaara said as he looked down to the boy.
"Iie ... It actually felt good you know? I think some of them got the message. And it's been a long time since I could fully let my true feelings out ..." Naruto said as he looked up and gave a soft smile to the sand-nin.
"Gaara! Naruto!" A female voice could he heard through the house.
"We're in here." Naruto spoke out loud enough for the girl to hear, well aware that Gaara wouldn't speak up.
Temari entered the room as she noticed a sitting Naruto and a Gaara that stood near him, she immediately rushed to them and looked down on Naruto.
"Are you alright? I heard shouting and all and..." Temari started, as she thought maybe someone tried something as she looked at both Gaara and Naruto.
"You were worried?" Naruto dumbly asked.
"Of course. With the Leaf staying here, and Gaara's instinct to protect you, add yelling to it all, I thought someone got hurt." Temari explained.
"Arigatou ..." Naruto spoke as Temari was surprised by his word.
"What for?" Temari asked, not fully understanding the situation.
"You're the first person that ever showed any worry of what could happen to me ..." Naruto let out with a smile as he lifted himself off the floor and now stood on his feet.
"What about your teammates or the people in your Village?" Temari asked, now curious to why Naruto sounded so depressed, when the first time she met him, he was loud and annoying.
"My teammates and sensei couldn't give a damn if I disappeared or not, as for the Villagers, they all hate me. The only person that showed me any kind of worry and yet respect, was my Academic's teacher, Umino Iruka. Even so, his job as a teacher takes a lot of his time, and one person alone isn't enough to make you stay in a Village that only wants to kill you." Naruto explained with a sad voice, as Temari noticed how the boy's story, resembled a lot, the one of her own little brother.
"I'm sure Gaara understands you more than anyone ..." Temari slipped in.
"We're more alike than people would think." Naruto let out and grinned, as he looked over to the sand-nin.
"That reminds me, where are the Leaf?" Temari asked, since the reason she rushed there were because of the yelling.
"The Anbu took them to Kazekage." Gaara replied.
"Father must be in a hurry to have them come to his office this early in the morning ..." Temari spoke out as she noticed Naruto giving her a puzzled look.
"Kazekage? Wasn't that the guy the snake bastard replaced at the Chuunin Exams? And where the heck was he? After all he's a 'kage' and should have been present instead of hiding..." Naruto asked as many questions pooped into his head.
Temari looked over to Gaara, unsure if she should actually answer, until the sand-nin took a step forward.
"Actually, Kazekage was to be at the Chuunin Exams in Leaf Village." Gaara began, as Temari knew it was ok to reveal everything, after all, her little brother wasn't the kind to trust, much less say something important, if it wasn't necessary.
"Then why was it the snake bastard instead of him?" Naruto asked, even more confused.
"Because Orochimaru killed him before he made it to the Leaf." Gaara answered.
"Wha ...?" Naruto wanted to ask, but Temari was already one step ahead.
"The Sand has wanted for some time to take Konoha down, because of an old grudge. And so Kazekage was approached by Sound Village, which Orochimaru was in charge of. That man made a deal with us, so we could defeat Konoha once and for all." Temari began as she saw the confused eyes of the blond.
"Then if Orochimaru killed your Kazekage before he could reach Konoha, then who are the Leaf meeting right now?" Naruto asked.
"Kazekage, our father." Gaara replied a bit angered by the fact he used the word father in his own sentence.
"Didn't he get killed?" Naruto asked, more confused than ever.
"When you live within our Village, you learn quite fast that you can't trust many people that easily. Our father suspected that Orochimaru and the Sound might betray us, but we didn't know when or how. And so, our father decided to send a replacement, dressed as him, as the Kazekage in case Orochimaru would try to eliminate him." Temari clearly explained.
"So that snake bastard doesn't know that he actually killed a replacement, and not the real one ..." Naruto rephrased in much simpler words.
"Hai." Gaara confirmed.
"So why make the alliance in the first place if he had doubts of being betrayed?" Naruto asked.
"As I said earlier, Kazekage and others held a great grudge against the Leaf and would do anything to repay them the favor, siding with Orochimaru was risky, but they couldn't pass up the opportunity, although us genins already thought it was crazy." Temari again explained.
"So now Kazekage wants peace between Konoha and Sand?" Naruto asked.
"Hai. Our father has a new goal that takes priority from destroying the Leaf." Temari spoke out.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"With the Leaf as our ally once again, we can obtain the information we need to know more about Orochimaru, so we can hunt him down for thinking so lowly of the Sand." Temari replied.
"At least the Leaf won't be the only ones hunting that bastard down anymore." Naruto commented.
"Temari! We have to go! Baki's waiting for us!" Kankuro shouted from the other end of the house.
"Hai!" Temari shouted back.
"Training?" Naruto asked out of pure curiosity.
"Hai, we have a few new techniques to work on, so ..." Temari started when Gaara gave her a certain look. "Well I'll be going." She said as she began to walk out of the room.
"Wait! You forgot your breakfast." Naruto told her as he reached for the salad bowl on the kitchen counter and handed it to her.
"It looks delicious. Arigatou." Temari smiled as she left the room to leave Gaara and Naruto to talk.
"She's nice." Naruto commented as he had his back turned to the sand-nin.
"When she isn't afraid of me." Gaara added, much to Naruto's sadness.
"I know that feeling all too well ..." Naruto commented at his turn, as he turned around to face the sand-nin. "How about we go train? I could use the exercises and new experience." The boy suggested with a small smile as he walked towards the nearest door to him.
Quickly, as he passed by Gaara to exit the kitchen, the sand-nin quickly grabbed Naruto's wrist and held him in place. Naruto looked down to his wrist, wondering why Gaara held him, and so, he locked eyes with the red haired boy and saw the serious expression this one had, which worried Naruto ...
"Gaara ... What is ..." Naruto wanted to ask, but Gaara quickly replied faster than he could ask his question.
"We need to talk." Gaara informed him, as Naruto's eyes showed he was now worried.
TBC ...
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A very long and a very angst chapter as promised. I know that I update not so often lately, but my part time jobs have been calling me to come in lately so I don't have as much free time, so please forgive me.
With that aside I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll very happy to know I got around 35 reviews for this chapter! I almost cried of joy. So continue the reviews people!
Chapter Length : 8, 200 words!
Oh and about Option number 2, the option will be revealed in 2 or 3 chapters. If I were to reveal it now, it would spoil all the fun ne? So I'll let your imagination run wild!
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A special thanks to HEBI for all the comments he left about every chapter I wrote so far, highly appreciated it!
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REVIEWS
Chibi chidori13 : I'm glad to know you're enjoying my fic and thanks for reviewing!
Muchacha : You kinda guessed what this chapter was about. Indeed they all let out their thoughts as well as they have some time to talk things out but the angst keeps coming up!
LilBlackNiteCat : Well you'll see in further chapters how things will develop as well as Kankuro's plan will be partly revealed but not in whole.
RedMirage07 : I'm glad to know some people like it that I don't rush into their relationship. Thanks for your support!
Uzumaki Inari : Glad to have a new reviewer that loves my story! As for the lemons and limes, give me a bit more time, because I start with the fluff stuff first and then comes the perverted stuff ... But you'll be advised when there's a lemon to come and so on!
Renn : I agree, I adore Kankuro and I have a bit of trouble with his character since I don't want him to be OCC just like his sister Temari. Hopefully you'll be glad to know that I do plan on having Kankuro appear more in this fic along with his sister than the actual anime.
Peter Kim : You're the best at telling how things might turn out! But I'll give you a small hint. Naruto will leave the Sand Village, but under what circumstances and so on, that's yet to be revealed! But thanks to all your hypothesis, it gave me a new idea for something so thanks!
Anatra DeSylvianno : Glad you enjoy the fic! I always felt that reading other Gaara x Naruto fic some stuff was always missing or things were too rushed you know? So I'm very proud of this fic and even happier to know people love it! So I'll let you in on a little secret, this fic will be long, I have so many good ideas that I'm hoping it will be longer than 30 chapters, wouldn't that be nice? I'll see how people enjoy it!
Ookami Kage : I'm glad you take time to review my fics at least! I'm still waiting on some of your updates, but hope you let me know when you do ne?
Sil : Well people wanted some stuff to happen and so the official fluff started although between Gaara and Naruto it isn't as clear yet rather they are or not in a true relationship since Naruto's too emotional with having his former suppose friend and teachers.
Anael Razualle : Kakashi and the others are persistent and are getting more and more on Naruto's bad side, so things are heating up, plus Naruto isn't sure on what to do anymore! Things will get better so I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!
Licht Sieger : Well you know why Kazekage is alive ne? In my mind it's a logic explanation since normally those elected as 'Kages' are among the strongest shinobis so he couldn't have fallen in such a trap and so on so I hope it was a good explanation.
TheTrueSilver : Glad you like the fluff stuff! I've been overwhelmed by work lately plus I have this project due in for this Wednesday since I failed it the first time so I have no time to write! Sniff sniff. It really sucks because I really try hard to write but my stupid real life prevents me lately! Hope to make it up later!
Shinigami's Minion : I'm glad you enjoy this fic and to have someone new review it. My only wish is to try and not disappoint any of you and I guess that stresses me out and then comes the writer's block you know?
NarutoFreak22 : Glad to know you're a fan of this pairing! Because I am too!
XXFishbonenessXx : I have enough death threats on my life because of my other fic right now, one more can't hurt ne? I'm kinda honored to know that my fic is really appreciated and some class it as the best so far. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry for the late update!
Nejidragon : Well it wans't that much of an evil cliffhanger ... I've done way worse lol. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Kuroi Hikari : Well as I said, although the two have kissed, a true relationship isn't something they know too well or know if they're in one. So that's another twist here and there about how it will develop into a close and personal relationship between the two but that's most up to Naruto.
Red Rose : I'm glad you enjoyed it because lately my inspiration for writing died down since I'm always working and all. My inspiration now comes after staring at my computer screen for like a day or two before I actually get an idea how to write things out lol.
Rei Tamashii : I'll have more fluff coming in every chapter ( at least I hope to be able to ... ) but things will get serious and so on, so I hope things will get better!
Silver Neo : Hmmm, and interesting pairing indeed... You might have given me an idea for a new fanfic with that specific couple in it, a short one thought but having an Sasuke x Neji fic would be nice since I haven't found many out there either ...
SevieIsCute / Nativelittle-fox / Shadow Eclipse / Kitsu3 / fijipoo : Thanks for reviewing! I highly appreciate you reviews!
Jinky-kurapika : I'm happy you enjoyed it! I'm sure that the first few chapters were a bit rough but then things got really interesting and I hope that it continues like that!
Hebi : I appreaciate you reviewing every chapter and your comments on each of them were making me skip my sleep and write this chapter instead! So glad to have you aboard!
-NC- : The Leafs should pay for how they treated poor Naruto ... He never deserved this so now Gaara will eb taking care of him, along with a little help of Temari and Kankuro.
xxphatxbaybeexx : Well I usually try to update weekly but lately having 7 fics to update made me slow down along with the work and school in my life. Plus I have like many shrt stories to write but if I do that I'll neglect some right now and them later on, but I hope to not lose my ideas and write later on!
JadeTiger : You're right, this chapter showed how everyone would react to this new and aggressive Naruto, and how things are getting strange but yet closer between our cute soon to be couple!
Arbil : I so understand you! Being deprived of this site for that long you have much to catch up to ne? I'm hoping to have many more cute parts that involves Gaara and Naruto, but angst is still in the air!
Jennifer Colburn : As I explained to others, I've been called many times to work at both my part time jobs, and so it even takes my week-end. And among that I have a project due for Wednesday but I have totally not worked on it yet due to my lack of time and hope you understand why it took longer than expected to get my chapters out. At least I kinda made up for it since this chapter was longer than any other I've written for this story so far.
Leah Durose : I'm glad to know you find it awesome, I've been told by many that this story was above most GaaraNaru the best and longest since you don't see many write on this couple and trying to hard to keep Gaara in character. So I hope not to disappoint you!
Fire : Glad you enjoy it so far, and you were lucky to read it at the time I updated it only days later. Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon!
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Next Chapter :
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Thanks again for reviewing I highly appreciate and keep those reviews up so my brains doesn't decide to go on a new writer's block ne?
Read and Review!
And check my other stories if not already done!
Until next time!
Ookima
Synopsis : After a hard night, Naruto wakes up to find that Gaara stayed with him all night, as now he must prepare for the day to come, since he'll have to confront his former teammates, friends, senseis and most of all, Uchiha Sasuke.
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Pairings : Main pairing will be Gaara x Naruto.
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Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto but wish I did. Because if I did, I'd be rich and happier.
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WARNING : Contains shonen-ai, in other words boy loves boy, don't like then don't read.
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EXTRA INFORMATION :
- This takes place after the Chuunin exam, although, Sasuke never went to join Orochimaru.
- Also, the fight between Sasuke and Naruto on the Hospital roof did occur.
- Important to have read up to Volume 20 of the manga Naruto
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JUTSU LIST
None in this chapter.
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JAPANESE WORDS
- baka = idiot -
- dobe = dead last -
- naruhodo = I see -
- Chikushou = damn / dammit -
- naze = why -
- hai = yes / yeah -
- Arigatou = Thank You -
- Gomen = Sorry -
- Urousai = Shut up -
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Recap
Gaara's House
---- Gaara's Bedroom ----
Naruto was sound asleep in Gaara's bed on the floor, while the sand-nin seemed to be asleep as well since his eyes were closed and his arms crossed. Naruto slowly woke up as he turned to his right side to come face to face with Gaara's legs.
"Gaara ..." Naruto whispered as he lifted his head slightly to notice the sand-nin was sleeping.
Naruto couldn't help but smile a little by the sight of Gaara's face, since the boy seemed at peace and relaxed. Even under the sheets, Naruto felt somewhat cold, until the memory of only a few hours ago crossed his mind once more. The moment Gaara kissed him. Willingly.
"I wonder what's that feeling I got ..." Naruto asked himself as he sat up on the bed.
Naruto partly pulled off the sheets form his body as he crawled closer to the sand-nin when he was only a few centimeters away from his face. Naruto then carefully placed a hand to gently caress the boy's cheek and leaned forward, and gave a soft and light kiss on Gaara's lips.
"Still warm ..." Naruto thought as he pulled away from the sand-nin.
Although after a little kiss, Gaara remained asleep, as Naruto decided that perhaps the boy would freeze if he wasn't covered, and so Narutogot closer again, and gently wrapped a blanket to cover Gaara's body, from his chest all the way down to his feet.
"Goodnight." Naruto whispered as he repositioned himself to sleep closer to the sand-nin and stay warm.
Naruto gently laid his head to rest on Gaara's lap as he pulled his own blanket over him to keep his body heat with him and closed his eyes once more, to fall asleep, feeling that he wasn't alone anymore.
Minutes later, Naruto was finally back to his sleep, as Gaara slowly opened his eyes, to reveal his pale green eyes, while he brought two fingers to his lips where moments ago, Naruto kissed him, truly believing he was asleep.
For the second time that night, Gaara smiled.
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Konoha Village
---- Tsunade's Office ----
Kurenai and Asuma's team finally came back within Konoha after an hour of leaping through trees and running on the ground. Their first stop was of course Tsunade's office, as the Hokage had nearly fallen asleep on her desk due to all the paperwork she still had to do.
"Tsunade-sama." Kurenai spoke her name as her and the rest of the team stepped within the office.
"Did you find him?" Tsunade immediately asked as she jumped out of her chair, hands against the desk.
"Kakashi and the others did, but there's a slight problem." Kurenai replied, while the genins simply stood behind the group as though they were bored.
"What kind?" Tsunade demanded an answer.
"Kakashi and the rest have located Naruto with the help of the sand-nins, but they can't return home yet due to the sand storm that will soon start." Kurenai explained, while Asuma simply continued to smoke and observed the Hokage's reactions.
"But he is within their custody?" Tsunade wanted to confirm.
"Hai. And while they are there along with Jiraiya-sama, they'll have a few words with Kazekage about their recent betrayal towards the Leaf." Asuma specified as he stomped his cigarette on the floor, which earned him a glare from the Hokage.
"The sand storm has it begun yet?" Tsunade asked, while she ignored Asuma's rude action form moments ago.
"The wind started to pick up so it shouldn't take long before the real storms starts." Tenten pointed out as she seemed bored.
"How much time?" Tsunade asked, very interested in the subject.
"Half an hour at most." Tenten replied while Kurenai and Asuma eyed their Hokage.
"Then it would be pointless to send you within the Village as well." Tsunade stated as she walked around her desk.
"Hai. I suggest we all get some rest and think about what we could do once our head is clear." Kurenai proposed, aware that they all worried of not being able to do anything more than wait.
"Very well. For now, you genins are off duty until this matter is cleared, as for you two, I want you in my office tomorrow morning for a briefing of another situation." Tsunade ordered them.
"Other situation?" Asuma raised an eyebrow.
"You'll be briefed tomorrow. Now go." Tsunade demanded as she waved them to get out of her office.
Kurenai and Asuma exchanged worried looks as the genins simply let out tired sighs and quickly left the room to go to their respective homes and get the sleep they need.
"Tsunade-sama ... They'll bring him back ..." Kurenai commented before she left, soon followed by Asuma as well.
Tsunade sat down on the edge of her desk and sighed. She couldn't help but feel a bit better over what Kurenai told her but something else told her to worry about the situation.
"As much as I want to believe you, something tells me things won't be that easy ..." Tsunade let out before she closed the lights and left her office to get some sleep or at least try.
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Sand Village
---- Gaara's house, In His Room ----
Gaara and Naruto hadn't moved at all from their position, as the blond clung onto the sand-nin's pants. Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he noticed how warm he felt compared to all the morning he woke up to only feel the cold air in the room. It's then that Naruto noticed that the warmth came form Gaara, as well as the sand-nin had an arm wrapped possessively behind his neck.
"Gaara...?" Naruto softly spoke out as he raised his head to meet those pale green eyes.
"Did I wake you?" Gaara asked as he locked eyes with the kitsune.
"Iie ..." Naruto let out as he laid his head back on the boy's lap and closed his eyes. "It's been a long time since I actually had a good night sleep."
"I wouldn't know." Gaara let out.
Naruto quickly opened his eyes, while he raised his head and upper body off the bed, his hands that supported his weight, as the kitsune looked a bit sadly at his new found companion.
"Because of Shukaku you can't sleep right?" Naruto asked.
"Hai." Gaara replied as he removed his arm from Naruto's neck.
Naruto wanted to talk a bit more, but unfortunately, his stomach had other plans in mind. His stomach growled loud enough as Gaara raised an eyebrow and stared at the stomach, while Naruto simply sat back in bed, rubbed the back of his head, and grinned.
"Hungry?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah ... I didn't eat anything since yesterday ..." Naruto trailed off as felt a bit uneasy under Gaara's intense stares.
Noticing that his kitsune felt somewhat uncomfortable, Gaara raised himself to his feet, and grabbed Naruto by the wrist, forcing him to stand up and follow him where ever the sand-nin went.
"H...hey!" Naruto objected as he felt somewhat, dominated by Gaara, but yet, it didn't feel all that bad. He only wondered why suddenly the sand-nin grabbed him and pulled him out of bed for no reason. "Gaara! Where are you bringing me!?" The boy demanded and answer as he pulled his wrist hard enough to escape the tight grip the sand-nin had on him.
Naruto tumbled back, as he landed a bit hard on his butt, while Gaara observed him, curious of his behavior. After all, most people were scared of him and never dared to resist him, but only this boy, Naruto, reacted so much differently then all the others. Because this one, understood him better than anyone else. Thus, Gaara leaned forward and held out a hand to Naruto.
"Gomen. I wanted to bring you to the kitchen so you could eat." Gaara explained.
"Oh ..." Naruto let out, surprised of how Gaara can be somewhat nice when the two are alone, unlike when the others, or even his siblings are present.
Naruto smiled as he grabbed Gaara's hand, and the sand-nin pulled him off the floor but used a little more strength then needed. Naruto quickly got off the floor but lost his footing and fell forward, until Gaara quickly grabbed him by the shoulders, assuring that this one wouldn't fall back on the floor and wound himself.
The blond looked up as he was about to thank the sand-nin, when he noticed how close they were. Their faces, only a few inches away from each other, as his deep blues eyes looked up and gazed into those pale green ones.
"The only thing I can think of is feeling those lips again ... Why?" Naruto asked himself, since he never really knew what love really felt like.
"Uzumaki ..." Gaara whispered his name.
"Yeah?" Naruto let out, his eyes still focused on the sand-nin's lips.
"Why did you kiss me last night?" Gaara asked, curious to know what motivated the blond to do something of the sort.
"You ... You were awake!?" Naruto yelled out as he took a step back.
"As I said earlier, I don't sleep, but I sometimes close my eyes to think." Gaara reminded the boy.
"Oh ... I'm sorry ... I thought you were sleeping and ... I don't know ... Just felt like it ..." Naruto trailed off as he didn't dare to look into Gaara's eyes.
"Felt like it..?" Gaara repeated as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah ..." The boy confirmed.
Gaara took a few steps forward, as Naruto remained in his position, not knowing what he should actually do. The sand-nin rose his hand and grabbed Naruto's chin and leaned forward, as his lips met those of the other boy. Naruto's eyes widened by the fact that Gaara was kissing him. Again!
After a few seconds, Gaara pulled away and turned his back on a stunned Naruto. He walked out of the room, but stopped once he felt the other boy's body move, ready to ask the question. The sand-nin turned his head slightly, o have a small view of the kitsune, waiting for the question.
"Why did you just kiss me?" Naruto asked, completely confused of how Gaara could act one moment and totally change another.
"I felt like it ..." Gaara let out as he walked out of the room, although, Naruto was unaware, that a small smile crept on the boy's lips as he left.
Within seconds, Naruto simply ran out of the room to join Gaara, as he debated within himself, how he should react, but for now, his stomach was more important. He could talk things out with the sand-nin when they would be alone after all.
---- Neji and Sasuke's Room ----
Both boys stayed all night looking out the window at the moon until the sand storm kicked in. They remained both silent for most of the time, lost within their own thoughts and worries for their little blond friend, until Neji decided to stand up and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked as he watched his roommate's back.
"It's pointless to stay here. So I decided to grab something to eat before I go train myself. Care to join?" Neji asked, well aware how the Uchiha always liked to train, after all, Sasuke was very similar to him in some ways.
"Hn. Having a different sparring partner could improve my skills even more. Especially one with a bloodlimit as good as the Sharingan." Sasuke spoke out as he got out of his chair and slipped his hands into his pockets.
"Uchiha. You should have learned by now that having the Byakugan or Sharingan is an addition to your strength, but it does not make you more powerful than one that has none." Hyuga reminded the boy who stood behind him, as he closed his eyes for a short moment.
"You're referring to Naruto." Sasuke coldly said as he observed Hyuga's movements and reactions.
"Hai. Although I am not his teammate, it only took one fight with him, to see that both children and adults, underestimate his true strength and potential into becoming a great ninja. Surely underneath that thick head of yours, you noticed this..." Neji finished as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
"Hn. But to me, he's still a dobe." Sasuke let out as he exited the room before Neji.
As Sasuke disappeared down the stairs, Neji couldn't help but smile lightly, as he noticed that deep down, Sasuke knew that his words spoke the truth. Neji walked outside the room as he closed the door and looked back at where they learned Naruto and Gaara slept for the night.
"Although a tragedy occurred in your clan Uchiha, it seems that you grew fond of Naruto, since I suppose, he's the only one that didn't treat or compare you to your brother, Itachi ..." Neji thought before he decided to leave the hall and go down in the kitchen.
---- Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino's Room ----
All three boys managed to get only a few hours of sleep, as they each began to wake up. Shikamaru lazily laid down on his back as he stared at the ceiling and seemed a bit depressed, while Kiba and Akamaru rubbed their eyes to clear their eyesight, and Shino, was already standing up near the window, as the bug user observed his two teammates.
"Today is going to be so troublesome ..." Shikamaru stated as he sat up in his bed and sighed.
"Everything's always too troublesome for you! If you always think like this why the hell did you come here to begin with!?" Kiba shouted as he jumped out of his bed and clenched his fists.
"Perhaps because we were ordered to." Shino stated with his calm voice.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Kiba yelled out once more.
"Calm down Kiba. I'm here because I respect Naruto and he's my friend. What's more troublesome is you." Shikamaru calmly spoke out as he got out of his bed and exchanged looks with the dog-nin.
"I propose we eat." Shino said out of the blue as he stared at the bedroom door.
"Huh? Are you going crazy?" Kiba asked as he raised an eyebrow and stared at his teammate.
The room was filled with silence as Shikamaru analyzed the situation and then understood the meaning of Shino's words.
"I agree. We have a busy day ahead of us." Shikamaru agreed as Kiba quickly turned his gaze to the lazy-nin in disbelief.
"What the hell!?" Kiba shouted, not understanding anything.
"As one would say, it is too troublesome to explain to someone like you." Shino cleared for him before he opened the door and stepped out of the room.
"Why that ..." Kiba began to curse when Akamaru sat down on his feet, while Shikamaru shook his head and placed a hand on his forehead, as though he had a headache.
"Kiba, what Shino was trying to say was that Naruto isn't in his room anymore." Shikamaru cleared for him as the dog-nin seemed to understand.
"Oh ... Then why the hell didn't he simply say so!?" Kiba shouted to the lazy- nin with anger.
"Those are the basics of shinobi's rules, one must learn to read, listen and look underneath the underneath." Shikamaru reminded the basic rules that were taught to them at the Academy.
"Whatever! I'm going to eat." Kiba said as he grabbed Akamaru from the floor and quickly walked out of the bedroom.
Shikamaru sighed again before he decided to join his teammates downstairs as well.
---- Sakura's Room ----
Sakura laid in her warm bed as she slowly opened her eyes and pushed aside the few pink strands of hair out of her eyes and found the strength to sit up in bed. She then rubbed her eyes as to clear up her vision as she took a look outside to notice the time.
"I guess the sand storm is still here ..." Sakura told herself as she slipped out of bed and went to the nearest mirror to rearrange her appearance.
She carefully brushed her short hair, as she attached her Leaf headband around her upper forehead so that her pink hair wouldn't block her vision or anything. After a few minutes of preparing to be the most stunning female, she smiled at the mirror as she turned towards the door with one though in mind, and completely forgetting about Naruto's current situation.
"I hope Sasuke-kun will compliment me today ..." Sakura let out softly and giggled. "HELL YEAH! I'm so beautiful that he's sure to go out with me!" Inner Sakura shouted as she waved her fists around.
With those thoughts in mind, Sakura left her room and decided to go visit her beloved crush Sasuke in his own bedroom.
---- Kakashi, Gai and Jiraiya's Room ----
Out of all three, Kakashi and Jiraiya stayed up all night while Gai decided to get the rest they needed, although in the back of his mind he did worry about his eternal rival's student.
When Gai woke up, he noticed how Kakashi was lost within his own thoughts, as the Jounin sat in a chair and leaned against the wall, while the legendary sennin focused on some scrolls that were laid down opened on his bed.
"Have any of you gotten any sleep?" Gai spoke out as he sat down in his bed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Iie." Jiraiya replied as he rubbed his temple with his fingers.
"Kakashi?" Gai turned his attention towards his rival.
"Just thinking." Kakashi replied with a bit of sadness.
"Still worried about him aren't you?" Gai asked, but already knew the answer.
"He's my student Gai ... I should have seen this coming ..." Kakashi blamed himself for his student's departure.
"Blaming yourself won't help us or even him right now. We need to know the complete truth and why he just left al of a sudden." Gai reminded his rival their original goal.
"Kakashi, this was to be expected. After all, we all knew too well that the Villagers still treated him as though he was the Kyubi himself, and the fact that Itachi appeared in the picture and wanted Naruto instead of Sasuke placed more strain on his rivalry between both boys." Jiraiya informed them as he began to close the scrolls.
"He's right. I admire the boy for that too." Gai started as this earned him the attention of both shinobis.
"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, curious to what his rival could possibly say.
"If Naruto didn't have such determination and a strong will, I doubt he would have been able to endure such a harsh life since he was a child. The fact that he continued to live and set out to realize his dreams, along with his will to never give up, it's amazing he lasted for so long ... I'm more surprised of how long he lasted, before he broke down and shut us out." Gai explained carefully as Kakashi and Jiraiya knew all too well that what Gai said was nothing but the truth.
"The question we should ask ourselves now, is if we can still save him..." Jiraiya let out as he finally spoke out the question everyone didn't dare to say or ask out loud.
---- Kitchen ----
Naruto was the first that entered the kitchen room as Gaara was only seconds behind his new object of his affection. But much to his disappointment, Gaara noticed that the kitsune had placed a false smile on his face.
"Naruto, don't hide yourself when I'm here." Gaara ordered him as he stared at the blond.
"Gomen ... It's just how I deal with daily things..." Naruto trailed off as he stared at the floor.
"It's ok ..." gaara trailed off as he noticed he made his kitsune uncomfortable.
Knock Knock
"Gaara, are you here?" A female voice spoke out on the other side of the door.
Naruto and Gaara turned their attention towards the door as it slowly opened to reveal two distinct forms. Temari stepped in as Kankuro soon followed behind her, while he made sure that the door was closed behind him.
"Ohayo." Naruto greeted them with a weak smile.
"Ah ... You're up early ..." Kankuro let out, a bit surprised to see the blond there.
"Kankuro." Temari murmured his name as she gave him an elbowounch on his side. "Did you sleep well Naruto?" Temari asked with a smile.
"Hai." Naruto replied, a bit happy that she actually showed her concern about how he slept last night.
"Naruto, would you mind if we took Gaara for a few minutes?" Temari asked while Kankuro sweat dropped.
"Oh ... Sure, I'm just going to make something to eat before I go train ... Want anything while I'm in it?" Naruto asked, disappointed that Gaara had to be taken away form him for a few minutes, after all, he would have broken down a long time ago if it wasn't for the presence of the sand-nin.
"Could you make me a small salad?" Temari asked, a bit worried of the boy's reaction.
"Sure. I'll have it ready for when you come back." Naruto said as he turned his attention towards Gaara and Kankuro. "How about you two?" He asked.
"I already ate ..." Kankuro answered.
"I don't eat in the mornings." Gaara replied.
With that said, Naruto turned his back on the small trio, as he searched for a bowl and was ready to prepare Temari's salad. Kankuro wanted to get out of the kitchen since he was still not use to Naruto's presence within their household. The trio exited the kitchen to discuss something that concerned their little family, while Naruto prepared Temari's salad.
"I kinda feel empty when he's not around ..." Naruto thought as he reached within the refrigerator and got some salad, cucumbers and carrots out of it.
---- An Empty Room ----
Temari led the way inside the empty room, as Gaara was the second to enter it and last of all, Kankuro, who made sure to close the door behind them, and made sure that no Leaf shinobis were around.
"Get to the point." Gaara demanded them, as he had a very short temper, more than usual when he wasn't around the former Leaf genin.
"I ... I mean we kinda noticed that having Naruto around is a good thing." Temari started, not wanting to anger her little brother or anything.
"You're saying that he calms both me and Shukaku." Gaara spoke the words his big sister didn't dare to, and much to both her and Kankuro's surprise.
"Look Gaara ... We were thinking that maybe it would be good to keep the brat here ..." Kankuro specified, his voice trembled a little.
"You stayed up all night to think of a way so we could keep Naruto." Gaara kinda asked but knew the answer as Temari and Kankuro were taken by surprise.
"Never mind ... It was a bad idea anyway ..." Kankuro let out as he felt as though he had been defeated.
"I want to hear it." Gaara demanded to know of this, which caught both off guard.
"Maybe father could do something to keep him here." Temari stated, but a the mention of his father, Gaara glared at his younger sister.
"I don't want that man's help." Gaara coldly stated as Kankuro swallowed hard, aware that his younger brother's anger towards their father.
"Or maybe not ..." Temari bluntly said as she waved her hands around defensively.
"I thought you had a better plan. After all you are my older sister and older brother." Gaara stated much to their surprise. After all Gaara very rarely addressed them as his siblings.
"We know for a fact that the Leaf shinobis labeled Naruto as a missing-nin, so I'm surprised they didn't order his assassination. But aside of that, Konoha will not leave without him." Temari started with a serious tone, while Gaara carefully listened to her every word.
"By the way things turned out last night, I take it that the brat doesn't want to go back home, for reasons only you know." Kankuro continued as his attention remained on the other side of the door.
"That boy would rather be killed then to go back to his former Village." Gaara confirmed as he crossed his arms.
"With that known, we came up with two options." Kankuro started as he looked over to his sister.
"The first one is for Naruto to leave our Village. With you being his full time guard, he would have a head start if he were to escape. At least he would have a fighting chance to escape his Village and perhaps not be caught." Temari explained the first option, but Gaara showed that he already didn't like that option.
"What about Option number 2?" Gaara asked as he stared at his sister.
Temari and Kankuro exchanged a bit worried looks before they revealed in only whispers what option number two was.
---- Kitchen ----
Naruto finally finished Temari's salad as he placed it on the counter with a cover over it, until the young female would come back with her two brothers.
"This isn't like me to prepare breakfast for someone I barely know ..." Naruto told himself as he stared at the salad bowl.
Naruto didn't feel like eating much anymore so he decided to simply drink a glass of fresh milk while he waited for Gaara to return. He took out a glass and filled it with milk and then made his way to the opposite door at the end of the room to take a seat, when the door opened and revealed 2 shinobis.
"Like I needed this ..." Naruto mentally told himself and sighed.
The first one that entered the kitchen was Sasuke, soon followed by Neji. Within seconds, Naruto was now face to face with his former rival, and immediately both looked at each other with cold eyes, while Neji observed, for now.
"Dobe ..." Sasuke let out, a bit surprised by the cold stares.
Naruto remained silent although his cold eyes could easily be felt by the other two boys. Naruto placed his glass of milk on the table and prepared to walk out of there, by using the same door which the boys came in with, but Sasuke stood before him, blocking his way.
"Out of my way ... Uchiha." Naruto coldly demanded and locked eyes with his former rival.
"Not until you and me talk." Sasuke clearly stated and was ready to back up his words if needed.
"Talk about what? The fact I left Konoha or the fact that I dared to tell you loud enough about this thing going on between you and Itachi? There's so many topics, all you gotta do is pick one." Naruto hissed with anger but kept his cool.
Sasuke was a bit shocked by Naruto's cold behavior, while Neji observed, but only wanted to interfere. Sasuke clenched his fists, as though he was ready to fight Naruto, but what held him back, was the presence of Neji, and his inner self.
----The Empty Room ----
For nearly five minutes, the room remained silent as Kankuro and Temari awaited for their little brother's answer, but his action, surprised them. Gaara simply closed his eyes for a short moment as he walked towards his older brother, while he uncrossed his arms.
"Gaara?" Temari spoke his name with worry as she took a step towards him.
"You both truly deserve to be called my older brother and sister, but this is a decision that Naruto alone can make." Gaara stated.
"What do you want us to do then?" Kankuro asked.
"Nothing." Gaara answered with his neutral tone.
"But ..." Temari objected but stopped once her eyes met those pale and dangerous eyes.
"The last thing we need are the Leaf suspecting something. As for the options, I will speak to Naruto privately, after the Leaf shinobis meet Kazekage. You'll be informed what course of action we will take." Gaara informed them with a menacing tone.
Temari and Kankuro were a bit frightened, as Gaara made his way towards the door and Kankuro. The puppet master lost no time to move out of his little brother's way, as he joined his sister's side. Gaara opened the door, his back turned to his siblings, but on his way out, he stopped.
"Arigatou." Gaara murmured loud enough for his siblings to hear.
Gaara left the room to return to the kitchen, as Temari and Kankuro were shocked for the third time that morning to how their little brother changed a little each time he encountered Naruto.
"Somehow, I hope Naruto picks option number 2 ..." Temari let out as Kankuro placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You are aware that if that happens, it will mean more trouble for all of us right?" Kankuro reminded his sister.
"Hai ... But when's the last time you saw Gaara smile or show any emotion at all?" Temari spoke out as she stared at the opened door.
"Not since father ignored him and Yashamaru's death ..." Kankuro let out.
---- Kitchen ----
After a few minutes of silence, Naruto decided it would be better for all if he simply left the room, after all, he didn't feel like fighting any of them right now, since last night's incident and discovery. And so for the second time, Naruto took a few steps forward, and tried to get pass Sasuke, but failed once more, as the Uchiha simply remained in the kitsune's way.
"I won't ask again." Naruto stated with cold blue eyes.
"Then make me." Sasuke told him and glared back.
"Answer me this Sasuke. That night, you told me to stay out of your business about you wanting to kill Itachi. So stay the hell out of mine, unless you want me to remind you of certain events concerning your older brother." Naruto evilly grinned, which angered his former rival.
The fact Naruto was actually smiling when he spoke out so freely about Itachi hit a nerve in Sasuke and thus, his Sharingan flared up. Sasuke quickly pushed Naruto against the nearest wall, as a loud thump was heard from the impact.
Neji was a bit surprised by Sasuke's sudden reactions, as he noticed how Naruto's head was lowered towards the ground, although the boy was still standing up. Sasuke quickly made his way towards his rival as he grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the wall, ready to hit the blond shinobi, when he got a glimpse of those blue empty eyes.
"Sasuke don't." Neji spoke loud enough as he prepared to interfere when he noticed they weren't alone in the kitchen anymore.
"This is going to be more troublesome than I thought ..." Shikamaru mumbled, as Shino and Kiba stood behind him at the other end of the room.
"Sasuke what do you think you're doing?" Kakashi's voice came from behind the Hyuga and Uchiha.
At where they stepped in, Gai, Kakashi and Jiraiya had stepped within the room, as they stood only a few meters away from the Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke remained in his fighting stance, his fist closed, ready to punch if necessary, while Naruto showed no sign of resistance or even tried to defend himself, instead he kept his eyes on his former rival, but those eyes were simply empty as though he no longer cared about anything.
"I want him to answer!" Sasuke replied with an angry voice.
"If you're going to hit me then just do it." Naruto told him, which earned him everyone's attention.
"Naruto ..." Neji let out, surprised by the sudden words that left the blonde's mouth.
"Well?" Naruto let out again to their surprise.
"Naruto why would you ..." Kakashi began to question until Naruto's eyes shifted to his own.
"It wouldn't be any different." Naruto answered with cold eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked as his small group came closer.
Jiraiya immediately understood what Naruto was speaking of, as he closed his eyes for a short moment before reopening them to look at his student. Jiraiya stepped forward and closer to Sasuke and Naruto, as the others remained behind him.
"Is that why you left Konoha?" Jiraiya asked, as both Jounins started to understand as well.
"Among many reasons." Naruto replied, as he now and only paid attention to the legendary sennin.
---- Outside Sasuke and Neji's Room ----
Sakura stopped in front of her beloved's door, as she rearranged her hair to be perfect and then knocked on the door.
"This is the perfect moment! He's sure to kiss me since I look so cute and irresistible." Sakura let out as she closed her hands and placed them under her chin.
"HELL YEAH! But I'm sure Sasuke's too shy to make a move and in that case! I'LL KISS HIM!" Inner Sakura shouted with joy.
A few minutes passed as she received no answer. She then decided that maybe she should go inside, after all, her beloved Sasuke could still be asleep. She grabbed the doorknob and was about to open the door when she heard that annoying voice of Naruto that came form downstairs.
"Just get your filthy hands off of me Uchiha!" Naruto demanded.
Sakura stopped her action as she retreated while looking down the stairs.
"Damn you Naruto! Talking like that to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura let out as her fist clenched and shook a little.
Now knowing that her all time crush was downstairs, she quickly ran down the stairs to scold Naruto for the way he treated HER Sasuke.
---- Kitchen ----
Jiraiya tried to have a calm conversation with Naruto, but at some point Kakashi and Sasuke started to get into it, which complicated things more than anything else.
"I'm not moving until you tell us the whole story." Sasuke stated as he lowered his fist and grabbed Naruto's collar more.
"Just get your filthy hands off of me Uchiha!" Naruto demanded as he finally fought back.
Naruto fought back as he pushed Sasuke off of him and regained his normal posture, while Sasuke wanted nothing more then to fight back. Unfortunately for him, Kakashi grabbed the boy by the shoulders and held him in place, while Jiraiya tried to talk some sense into his only student.
"Sasuke, don't interfere anymore." Kakashi warned his student, as the Uchiha was a bit angered by his sensei's words.
"Naruto, you should calm down..." Jiraiya tried to reason with the boy, but failed to.
"You bastard! I'd give anything to trade places!" Naruto shouted, while Sasuke wanted nothing more then to retaliate.
"You idiot! My whole clan was whipped out by Itachi and that bastard left me alive because I wasn't even worth killing! Who would possibly want that kind of a life!?" Sasuke shouted as Kakashi did his best to hold his student from fighting with his other one.
"Me." Naruto replied and was serious about it, which took Sasuke by surprise.
"Nani...?" Sasuke let out, still shocked by the honesty in Naruto's response.
"You think my life is better than yours? Guess again. Being ignored by everyone, knowing that all they wish for is your death because of what you are. The cold glares, all those together are just as good as being beaten and punched. As for my parents, I never got to know them and NO ONE ever wanted to tell me who they were or what they did. At least you knew them and had your happy moments with yours before Itachi took them away." Naruto informed them as they all remained silent, from Naruto's speech.
Naruto's heart was beating fast as he let his emotions take the better part of him, while the rest of the genins simply looked at him, partly sad of what they learned, while the Jounins and the sennin had their own personal thoughts.
"His fighting spirit is broken ..." Gai thought as he remembered how Lee felt when he learned he couldn't be a shinobi anymore. That was before Tsunade managed to heal the boy through surgery, giving him a second chance.
"I never knew this affected him so much ..." Kakashi thought as he was angry with himself for not noticing earlier.
"Perhaps keeping everything secret to him wasn't as good as we thought ..." Jiraiya thought, as he noticed how Naruto now leaned against the wall, his head low, to avoid any eye contact. Right now, Naruto was vulnerable once more, because of them.
The room became silent, that was until a certain pink haired girl barged inside the kitchen and charged towards Naruto.
"Naruto. You better not be mistreating Sasuke-kun again." Sakura shouted as she stood only a meter away from the boy.
"If she gets into this it's going to go beyond troublesome ..." Shikamaru thought as he slapped his forehead from the stupidity of the pink haired girl.
"You'll never change ..." Naruto let out as he slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with anger and resentment towards the girl.
With only those words spoken, the intense hatred could be felt within the air, as Kiba gulped, while Akamaru hid in his master's jacket. Shino remained silent, just like Neji, but both paid close attention and would interfere if needed, while Gai could only imagine how his long time rival could feel like right now, after all three were his students.
"Sasuke was right about one thing, you are annoying." Naruto coldly stated.
Sakura took a step back as her own eyes locked with those cold blue eyes, surprised by what her 'idiotic' teammate just told her.
"Naruto!" Kakashi interfered before things would get ugly.
"And you ..." Naruto turned his eyes towards his former sensei. "You, you ignored me and treated me just the same way they all did. Guess watching over the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan was far more important than even giving me a minute of your precious time." Naruto spat out in anger as the Jounin felt the anger all too well, after all, Naruto wasn't half wrong about the words he spoke.
"Naruto. That's enough." Jiraiya told his student.
"Doesn't matter anyway. Even if you bring me back to that damn Village, the only way you'll keep me in it is either by killing me, which shouldn't be too hard considering those stupid people's hate for me, or by finding some way to to keep me in check, which I doubt would be too possible to do since IT wouldn't appreciate it either." Naruto firmly stated as they all noticed how Naruto insisted on the IT word, and none of the genins had any idea what he referred to, except the three adults.
Jiraiya was about to grab Naruto by the arm, when this one simply stepped back to avoid the hand, and then, a small smile was formed on his lips, as well as his eyes focused elsewhere.
"I'd advise you to stay away from him." A neutral voice spoke behind Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino.
All heads turned to see who was the speaker as they found Gaara there, arms crossed, and he looked unpleased to see how they had cornered the one thing he appreciated most in life right now.
"He'll have to answer our questions sooner or later. Jiraiya spoke out as he noticed three hidden figures, who appeared behind Gaara.
"Until you leave MY Village, Uzumaki Naruto is under my surveillance and care. Once you've left, you can do as you please." Gaara reminded them.
"Who the hell are they?" Kiba asked an obvious question.
"Kazekage-sama is ready to meet with Konoha's shinobis. We are here to escort you to him." The leader spoke out for the three adults to understand him.
"We appreciate this, but we still have a few things to discuss with the missing-nin ..." Kakashi began to explain, but his attempt was quickly discarded by the Anbu leader.
"Kazekage-sama is not a man who likes to wait." The leader informed the Jounin and seemed very serious about it.
"As for your missing-nin, it's unlikely that he'll escape with Gaara as his caretaker." The other Anbu explained.
"So if you would please follow us." The third member spoke.
Jiraiya and Kakashi exchanged looks, as Gai placed a comforting hand on his rival's shoulder.
"This is for Konoha's best interests. Gaara of the Sand isn't likely to lie, so we shouldn't worry, besides, Naruto needs his space right now." Gai whispered to his rival.
"Hai ..." Kakashi let out and sighed.
"We're just going to leave like this!?" Sakura shouted from the way her sensei reacted.
"Sakura was it?" Jiraiya asked and she nodded. "I think you've done enough damage for today ..." He informed her.
"But!" Sakura wanted to object, but much to her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder, that hand belonged to Uchiha Sasuke.
"Drop it." Sasuke demanded from her.
Sakura closed her mouth, as she decided it would be best if she obeyed, while Gai took the first steps those all three Anbu members.
"Let's go." He said.
Before joining the Jounin, each genin took one last look at their friend and teammate, as the only ones that remained behind were Jiraiya, Sasuke and Kakashi.
"You should go. Wouldn't want Konoha to be at war again would we?" Naruto spat out a bit angered.
"We'll be back soon. And when I come back, you and me are having a serious talk, alone." Jiraiya informed his only student before he walked towards the Anbu and the rest of their team.
Kakashi spared one last look before he motioned Sasuke to join the others as well as himself. Every Leaf shinobi had now joined the three Anbus, as Gaara stepped aside to join his kitsune, on the other end of the room.
"Take your time to come back." Gaara spoke, as the leader simply nodded, before the group were encircled by wind and sand.
Within seconds, they all disappeared from the kitchen, and left Gaara and Naruto alone. The moment they left, Naruto's true emotions surfaced as he leaned against the wall and let his body slowly slide down the wall until he reached the floor.
"I shouldn't have left you." Gaara said as he looked down to the boy.
"Iie ... It actually felt good you know? I think some of them got the message. And it's been a long time since I could fully let my true feelings out ..." Naruto said as he looked up and gave a soft smile to the sand-nin.
"Gaara! Naruto!" A female voice could he heard through the house.
"We're in here." Naruto spoke out loud enough for the girl to hear, well aware that Gaara wouldn't speak up.
Temari entered the room as she noticed a sitting Naruto and a Gaara that stood near him, she immediately rushed to them and looked down on Naruto.
"Are you alright? I heard shouting and all and..." Temari started, as she thought maybe someone tried something as she looked at both Gaara and Naruto.
"You were worried?" Naruto dumbly asked.
"Of course. With the Leaf staying here, and Gaara's instinct to protect you, add yelling to it all, I thought someone got hurt." Temari explained.
"Arigatou ..." Naruto spoke as Temari was surprised by his word.
"What for?" Temari asked, not fully understanding the situation.
"You're the first person that ever showed any worry of what could happen to me ..." Naruto let out with a smile as he lifted himself off the floor and now stood on his feet.
"What about your teammates or the people in your Village?" Temari asked, now curious to why Naruto sounded so depressed, when the first time she met him, he was loud and annoying.
"My teammates and sensei couldn't give a damn if I disappeared or not, as for the Villagers, they all hate me. The only person that showed me any kind of worry and yet respect, was my Academic's teacher, Umino Iruka. Even so, his job as a teacher takes a lot of his time, and one person alone isn't enough to make you stay in a Village that only wants to kill you." Naruto explained with a sad voice, as Temari noticed how the boy's story, resembled a lot, the one of her own little brother.
"I'm sure Gaara understands you more than anyone ..." Temari slipped in.
"We're more alike than people would think." Naruto let out and grinned, as he looked over to the sand-nin.
"That reminds me, where are the Leaf?" Temari asked, since the reason she rushed there were because of the yelling.
"The Anbu took them to Kazekage." Gaara replied.
"Father must be in a hurry to have them come to his office this early in the morning ..." Temari spoke out as she noticed Naruto giving her a puzzled look.
"Kazekage? Wasn't that the guy the snake bastard replaced at the Chuunin Exams? And where the heck was he? After all he's a 'kage' and should have been present instead of hiding..." Naruto asked as many questions pooped into his head.
Temari looked over to Gaara, unsure if she should actually answer, until the sand-nin took a step forward.
"Actually, Kazekage was to be at the Chuunin Exams in Leaf Village." Gaara began, as Temari knew it was ok to reveal everything, after all, her little brother wasn't the kind to trust, much less say something important, if it wasn't necessary.
"Then why was it the snake bastard instead of him?" Naruto asked, even more confused.
"Because Orochimaru killed him before he made it to the Leaf." Gaara answered.
"Wha ...?" Naruto wanted to ask, but Temari was already one step ahead.
"The Sand has wanted for some time to take Konoha down, because of an old grudge. And so Kazekage was approached by Sound Village, which Orochimaru was in charge of. That man made a deal with us, so we could defeat Konoha once and for all." Temari began as she saw the confused eyes of the blond.
"Then if Orochimaru killed your Kazekage before he could reach Konoha, then who are the Leaf meeting right now?" Naruto asked.
"Kazekage, our father." Gaara replied a bit angered by the fact he used the word father in his own sentence.
"Didn't he get killed?" Naruto asked, more confused than ever.
"When you live within our Village, you learn quite fast that you can't trust many people that easily. Our father suspected that Orochimaru and the Sound might betray us, but we didn't know when or how. And so, our father decided to send a replacement, dressed as him, as the Kazekage in case Orochimaru would try to eliminate him." Temari clearly explained.
"So that snake bastard doesn't know that he actually killed a replacement, and not the real one ..." Naruto rephrased in much simpler words.
"Hai." Gaara confirmed.
"So why make the alliance in the first place if he had doubts of being betrayed?" Naruto asked.
"As I said earlier, Kazekage and others held a great grudge against the Leaf and would do anything to repay them the favor, siding with Orochimaru was risky, but they couldn't pass up the opportunity, although us genins already thought it was crazy." Temari again explained.
"So now Kazekage wants peace between Konoha and Sand?" Naruto asked.
"Hai. Our father has a new goal that takes priority from destroying the Leaf." Temari spoke out.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"With the Leaf as our ally once again, we can obtain the information we need to know more about Orochimaru, so we can hunt him down for thinking so lowly of the Sand." Temari replied.
"At least the Leaf won't be the only ones hunting that bastard down anymore." Naruto commented.
"Temari! We have to go! Baki's waiting for us!" Kankuro shouted from the other end of the house.
"Hai!" Temari shouted back.
"Training?" Naruto asked out of pure curiosity.
"Hai, we have a few new techniques to work on, so ..." Temari started when Gaara gave her a certain look. "Well I'll be going." She said as she began to walk out of the room.
"Wait! You forgot your breakfast." Naruto told her as he reached for the salad bowl on the kitchen counter and handed it to her.
"It looks delicious. Arigatou." Temari smiled as she left the room to leave Gaara and Naruto to talk.
"She's nice." Naruto commented as he had his back turned to the sand-nin.
"When she isn't afraid of me." Gaara added, much to Naruto's sadness.
"I know that feeling all too well ..." Naruto commented at his turn, as he turned around to face the sand-nin. "How about we go train? I could use the exercises and new experience." The boy suggested with a small smile as he walked towards the nearest door to him.
Quickly, as he passed by Gaara to exit the kitchen, the sand-nin quickly grabbed Naruto's wrist and held him in place. Naruto looked down to his wrist, wondering why Gaara held him, and so, he locked eyes with the red haired boy and saw the serious expression this one had, which worried Naruto ...
"Gaara ... What is ..." Naruto wanted to ask, but Gaara quickly replied faster than he could ask his question.
"We need to talk." Gaara informed him, as Naruto's eyes showed he was now worried.
TBC ...
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A very long and a very angst chapter as promised. I know that I update not so often lately, but my part time jobs have been calling me to come in lately so I don't have as much free time, so please forgive me.
With that aside I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll very happy to know I got around 35 reviews for this chapter! I almost cried of joy. So continue the reviews people!
Chapter Length : 8, 200 words!
Oh and about Option number 2, the option will be revealed in 2 or 3 chapters. If I were to reveal it now, it would spoil all the fun ne? So I'll let your imagination run wild!
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A special thanks to HEBI for all the comments he left about every chapter I wrote so far, highly appreciated it!
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REVIEWS
Chibi chidori13 : I'm glad to know you're enjoying my fic and thanks for reviewing!
Muchacha : You kinda guessed what this chapter was about. Indeed they all let out their thoughts as well as they have some time to talk things out but the angst keeps coming up!
LilBlackNiteCat : Well you'll see in further chapters how things will develop as well as Kankuro's plan will be partly revealed but not in whole.
RedMirage07 : I'm glad to know some people like it that I don't rush into their relationship. Thanks for your support!
Uzumaki Inari : Glad to have a new reviewer that loves my story! As for the lemons and limes, give me a bit more time, because I start with the fluff stuff first and then comes the perverted stuff ... But you'll be advised when there's a lemon to come and so on!
Renn : I agree, I adore Kankuro and I have a bit of trouble with his character since I don't want him to be OCC just like his sister Temari. Hopefully you'll be glad to know that I do plan on having Kankuro appear more in this fic along with his sister than the actual anime.
Peter Kim : You're the best at telling how things might turn out! But I'll give you a small hint. Naruto will leave the Sand Village, but under what circumstances and so on, that's yet to be revealed! But thanks to all your hypothesis, it gave me a new idea for something so thanks!
Anatra DeSylvianno : Glad you enjoy the fic! I always felt that reading other Gaara x Naruto fic some stuff was always missing or things were too rushed you know? So I'm very proud of this fic and even happier to know people love it! So I'll let you in on a little secret, this fic will be long, I have so many good ideas that I'm hoping it will be longer than 30 chapters, wouldn't that be nice? I'll see how people enjoy it!
Ookami Kage : I'm glad you take time to review my fics at least! I'm still waiting on some of your updates, but hope you let me know when you do ne?
Sil : Well people wanted some stuff to happen and so the official fluff started although between Gaara and Naruto it isn't as clear yet rather they are or not in a true relationship since Naruto's too emotional with having his former suppose friend and teachers.
Anael Razualle : Kakashi and the others are persistent and are getting more and more on Naruto's bad side, so things are heating up, plus Naruto isn't sure on what to do anymore! Things will get better so I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapters!
Licht Sieger : Well you know why Kazekage is alive ne? In my mind it's a logic explanation since normally those elected as 'Kages' are among the strongest shinobis so he couldn't have fallen in such a trap and so on so I hope it was a good explanation.
TheTrueSilver : Glad you like the fluff stuff! I've been overwhelmed by work lately plus I have this project due in for this Wednesday since I failed it the first time so I have no time to write! Sniff sniff. It really sucks because I really try hard to write but my stupid real life prevents me lately! Hope to make it up later!
Shinigami's Minion : I'm glad you enjoy this fic and to have someone new review it. My only wish is to try and not disappoint any of you and I guess that stresses me out and then comes the writer's block you know?
NarutoFreak22 : Glad to know you're a fan of this pairing! Because I am too!
XXFishbonenessXx : I have enough death threats on my life because of my other fic right now, one more can't hurt ne? I'm kinda honored to know that my fic is really appreciated and some class it as the best so far. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry for the late update!
Nejidragon : Well it wans't that much of an evil cliffhanger ... I've done way worse lol. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Kuroi Hikari : Well as I said, although the two have kissed, a true relationship isn't something they know too well or know if they're in one. So that's another twist here and there about how it will develop into a close and personal relationship between the two but that's most up to Naruto.
Red Rose : I'm glad you enjoyed it because lately my inspiration for writing died down since I'm always working and all. My inspiration now comes after staring at my computer screen for like a day or two before I actually get an idea how to write things out lol.
Rei Tamashii : I'll have more fluff coming in every chapter ( at least I hope to be able to ... ) but things will get serious and so on, so I hope things will get better!
Silver Neo : Hmmm, and interesting pairing indeed... You might have given me an idea for a new fanfic with that specific couple in it, a short one thought but having an Sasuke x Neji fic would be nice since I haven't found many out there either ...
SevieIsCute / Nativelittle-fox / Shadow Eclipse / Kitsu3 / fijipoo : Thanks for reviewing! I highly appreciate you reviews!
Jinky-kurapika : I'm happy you enjoyed it! I'm sure that the first few chapters were a bit rough but then things got really interesting and I hope that it continues like that!
Hebi : I appreaciate you reviewing every chapter and your comments on each of them were making me skip my sleep and write this chapter instead! So glad to have you aboard!
-NC- : The Leafs should pay for how they treated poor Naruto ... He never deserved this so now Gaara will eb taking care of him, along with a little help of Temari and Kankuro.
xxphatxbaybeexx : Well I usually try to update weekly but lately having 7 fics to update made me slow down along with the work and school in my life. Plus I have like many shrt stories to write but if I do that I'll neglect some right now and them later on, but I hope to not lose my ideas and write later on!
JadeTiger : You're right, this chapter showed how everyone would react to this new and aggressive Naruto, and how things are getting strange but yet closer between our cute soon to be couple!
Arbil : I so understand you! Being deprived of this site for that long you have much to catch up to ne? I'm hoping to have many more cute parts that involves Gaara and Naruto, but angst is still in the air!
Jennifer Colburn : As I explained to others, I've been called many times to work at both my part time jobs, and so it even takes my week-end. And among that I have a project due for Wednesday but I have totally not worked on it yet due to my lack of time and hope you understand why it took longer than expected to get my chapters out. At least I kinda made up for it since this chapter was longer than any other I've written for this story so far.
Leah Durose : I'm glad to know you find it awesome, I've been told by many that this story was above most GaaraNaru the best and longest since you don't see many write on this couple and trying to hard to keep Gaara in character. So I hope not to disappoint you!
Fire : Glad you enjoy it so far, and you were lucky to read it at the time I updated it only days later. Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon!
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Next Chapter :
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Thanks again for reviewing I highly appreciate and keep those reviews up so my brains doesn't decide to go on a new writer's block ne?
Read and Review!
And check my other stories if not already done!
Until next time!
Ookima